John Harms' parents wanted their son to learn about truth and beauty. They taught him to fold his socks and eat his crusts. But he was drawn to contests of skill and chance: laughing clowns at the show, pinball at the local cafe and snooker at Joe Jurd's. He became a brilliant student - of the form guide. Then Harms joined a syndicate intent on proving that anyone can own a racehorse. But his troubled mare, Courting Pleasure, was hard to steer and harder to stop. She became a rebellious, duck-diving thoroughbred who wanted 'a navel ring, a tattoo and a copy of Animal Farm'. Memoirs of a Mug Punter is a tale of jockeys and trainers and bookies and strappers. John Harms is an irresistible storyteller and this is his fable about obsessive hope and manic despair. From bush tracks to TABs in town, the view from the finishing post was never so funny.